Janell

Over the past few months I have had an overwhelming amount gratitude for my family relationships. Especially my sister in-law, Janell. There have been a few times when I will be thinking about her and I just have to tell her how much she means to me. So I would just send her a text telling her. I even felt prompted to post about my sister in-laws just a few entries back.

Well in just the last couple weeks Janell has been dealing with some health issues. She had a lump in her breast the doctors were concerned about. She had a skin biopsy done and had to wait a week for the results. I was sure it wasn't anything. I brushed it off, While we were out shopping a couple days before the results returned I told her she had nothing to worry about. I just assumed she was too young to be concerned about it being something serious. Well, I was wrong. In fact, it is quite serious. She was diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer called Paget's disease. It is rare because they don't know if the cancer starts on the skin and works it's way in or the opposite, starts inside and works it's way out. In addition she has a tumor and a mass that are both cancer. This news was completely shocking to me. Not just me really, all of us! She is 28 and has an almost 1 year old Violet. You just don't think this could happen at such a young age.

Each year as "Mills" women, we walk in the Susan G. Komen, Walk for the Cure. We do this in honor of my husband's grandma, Eloise Monteith. She was a survivor of breast cancer. Each year we hear the reminders, wear our breast cancer shirts, and we are humbled by those survivors who walk with us in the crowd. I just honestly never thought about on of our family members wearing that pink shirt.

I think this week the shock has turned into action. I was overwhelmingly emotional after the news. Crying often and easily. This week we are pulling resources, making plans, offering help, doing what we can to try to lighten their burden. When I say we, I mean everyone... friends, family, even people they have never met. Janell though, solid as a rock. Reassuring, confident, positive, and ready to do what needs to be done. All the things a doctor could ask for. In fact, when she met with the surgeon he told her that if he ever gets cancer, he wants to handle just like her. The glass half full. Everything is new and important to understand. Peter and Janell are working as a team to digest the information and make the right decisions for their family. We all know there is a rough road ahead. I am confident and positive, but I dreading what what this next year will hold. I am continually comforted by the spiritual experiences Janell has had along the way.

I am grateful for the prompting of the spirit. I always regret not acting on it and this time I am thankful I did. Janell is my sister. I love her and she knows it. We are ready to help her fight this battle! We know she can do it and we will be there each step of the way.

First Day of School

I saw everyone posting their first day of school photos on Facebook, but never put ours up. My mom thought I was slacking. So here is proof of her grandchildren's first day! 

Josh is in 2nd grade this year and is doing fantastic so far. His reading has improved so much. He is ahead and it is a relief. We were excited to have a friend of his in the same class for the first time. Now he has made another buddy, so the three seem to be excited when they get the chance to be together. Josh is one of the tallest in the 2nd grade and he is proud it. 

You may wonder where Mr. Parker's glasses are? Well it seems his eyes are growing so fast and his prescription keeps changing. This is good because it has been improving. The only downside is that there always seems to be a wait to see his doc. His eyes still cross occasionally, which cracks me up from time to time, but not as bad as before his surgeries. So... here Parker is in all his glory. An old outfit he has started to outgrow and a wet mark on his shirt from something he spilled right before we left. I had a brand new outfit ironed and ready, but he refused. At least he felt comfortable on his first day. He did wear his new socks and new Star Wars slip ons. Parker is going to Transitional Kindergarten. His birthday falls in August and he wasn't quite ready for Kindergarten. There was a lot of debate about this topic, but ultimately we feel we made the right choice for Parker. He is thriving and loving his class. He enjoys going everyday and I enjoy it too! He was always so bored on his days off. He likes going each day just like his big bro. We are carpooling with two other families who we didn't know before. It has been nice for Parker to get to know their boys. 

 

This is Parker with his friend Justin, or as he calls him... "the boy with the golden hair!"

We are excited for all the new experiences the kids will have this year.

Soccer!

We have started a new phase of life in our home... sports! This is Josh's first year playing soccer. We have a great coach who is focused on helping the boys learn the game and learn fitness. Josh worked hard during the game. He seemed to fall on the ground often, so the goal is to stay on his feet the whole time! 

We all wore our TEAM MILLS family reunion shirts even, Grandpa & Grandma Mills, and Gramma Jean. It was so fun to have them come support Josh! 

Emmi's 1 year photos

 I wanted to capture Emmi at this fun stage. My friend Courtney, at Peas and Pods Photography, did an amazing job at getting exactly what I was looking for! We will treasure these forever.

 

Emmi Baby's Birthday Party

As usual, the first year went by in a flash. Emmi has been the best baby. She has really made our year! One thing (of many) that Emmi has done for our family, is taught the boys how to be affectionate and gentle. They are always so rough, wrestling and being boys, but not with Emmi. In their tone, the way they play with her, and help her with what she needs is kinder. I didn't know how life would be with a girl. Trying to figure out how to dress and accessorize her was new to me. I felt like there needed to be a little girl handbook with tips like... what color tights are appropriate with black shoes or you should have a diaper cover with every dress. We survived though. (Although, her hair flower does look a little out of control in the pictures. It was meant to be outrageous for her birthday, but one day she'll say what were you thinking!) Her almost always happy demeanor and smile has brought so much joy to our family.

To celebrate Emmi's birthday we had some friends and family over. 

Since our Miss Emmi has "orange" hair, I decided to just orange for decorating. 

I baked a cake for Parker's birthday earlier in the month and decided, I'm never baking a cake for birthdays again. It tasted fine, but I am always disappointed in the appearance. Thankfully, my friend Scot is an amazing pastry chef. This was the BEST cake I have ever eaten. It was like an orange creamsicle. I am not a big cake person, but I actually ate the left overs.

Then came the gifts. She wasn't quite sure what to do. Her brothers were her helpers. After everything was opened (and Aunt Teresa took everything out of the packages, that was a gift by itself), she played all night with her new toys!

One of the funniest things about Emmi is that she loves the camera. She is a ham! While she was sitting here on the table, she would smile for each camera, even looking in the right direction. 

Below is Emmi's personal birthday cake. Peter took some great pictures of her close up, but I haven't found them on computer yet. He got a good one of her eating the cake with her mouth and no hands.

Janell cut the cake for me, look at the the colors in the cake. It had an orange curd filling. Delicious!

I realized we didn't get pictures of Emmi with all the grandparents. Don't you think we all need personal photographers for these kinds of events?! Anyways... it was a great day. It was nice to spend time with those that care about our Emmi. And now we're officially onto whole milk and front facing car seats!

My Sisters!

I am blessed to have 4 sister in-laws. I am the only girl in my family and as I posted previously, I really hoped I would always be the only girl. As I got older and watched friends who had sisters I could see the benefits. I never knew what my "future" family would bring me, but I looked forward to having a relationship with sisters.

When I married Dave I instantly got my first sister. Janell was a teenager when I came on the scene. After she served a mission for our church we really started to develop a relationship. As time went on we have become closer and closer. I can't express how much I love her. I feel like she is my sister. She is fun, outgoing, thoughtful, crafty, and a really hard worker. We make a good team whenever we host an event together. She can pretty much make anything... clothing, wedding cakes, furniture... anything! Now that she is a mom and we have daughters 5 weeks and 6 days apart... we have bonded even more. We can care for each other's children as if they were our own. I just love that. I can guarantee that if Janell is with me, then there will be laughing and fun! She is a blessing in my life.

Next is Sami. She is married to my brother Jared and the missing link in this picture above. Sam and I have always lived apart. For the first few years they were married I really didn't know her very well. Then we had the opportunity to go to Women's Conference together. It was our chance to bond together. We spent the whole day together. We even snuck away for my first sushi experience, then went to a concert that night. From that day on I felt like we got each other. Whenever I see her or know we'll be seeing each other soon I get excited. She is so kind and loving. She started to always tell me she loved me when she got off the phone. After that, it's been easy to express our love for one another.  Sam is amazingly capable. She is hands on with any project. You can find her in the attic of their house working on projects with my dad or out cutting wood to make us wonderful Christmas gifts. She has more talent than I think she realizes. She is also a wonderful cook and we share recipes via texts from time to time. I am thankful for the bond that we've created and that we get to be sisters. She also was the only girl in her family, like me and Janell. It was kind of a funny coincidence.

Recently I gained two more sisters! My new sister Aubrey is Chad's wife. We are just at the beginning of getting to know each other, but from the first time I talked to her on the phone I knew I loved her. We briefly spent time with her during Chad's graduation, commissioning, and their wedding. It was a busy week and they were busy. So these past two weeks they were here staying with us was a great chance to get to know her. (Thankfully they were here after their open house at my home because I was a little stressed out preparing for that! Then we were able to relax and play a bit.) Aubrey is simply delightful. She is just full of happiness. She is not picky and up for anything! I would listen to her with my brother and loved her playful attitude with him. Also the way she knows him and can calm any of his concerns. I loved sitting on the couch in our pj's talking in the middle of the night. I was able to get to know more about her and hear stories about her life. Aubrey is an Equestrian and has been very successful in it. It was so neat to hear about her talents and passion. I can't wait to get to know her more over the years. (Aubrey is on my right).

Just weeks after Aubrey joined our family, Megan officially became part of the family too. We met Megan quite a while a go when Jordan brought her home to meet us last April. One thing we learned right away about Megan is that she loves her family. She appreciates the family traditions she has and the relationships she has created with her siblings, parents, and extended family. Megan is is also a hard worker. Whenever she comes over she helps with dishes or makes sure things are straightened up. I always tell her she doesn't have to help, but I've decided to give up because she will do it anyways. I noticed after they left from spending the night that the decorative pillows were arranged exactly the way I had them when they came. I was so surprised that she put them back the same way! She is basically a puzzle master and we had fun working together, as a family, putting one together. I look forward to continuing to get to know her even better. I am grateful to have her as part of our family. (Megan is on the left of Janell).

Our siblings are now complete! Now I look forward building our relationships and enjoying family time together whenever we get it. What a lucky girl I am.

Preschool Graduation for Parker

Lots of excitement in our home when Parker was graduating for preschool. He woke up that morning and announced that he was graduating! He had a wonderful experience learning from Ms. Danai and Ms. Jill. They are such loving teachers (and patient with our little ball of energy!)

These are Parker's two favorite buds from school. Taylor (on the left) and Josh. We had quite a few play dates over the last two years with these guys.

Parker's teacher took a minute to talk about each student. They shared how Parker brought so much fun into the classroom. He was always energetic and happy to be there. They missed him when he wasn't there and he kept his class laughing,  

Here he is making everyone laugh! 

Parker has spiced up our family from the very start. He makes us laugh everyday, He is outgoing and happy. He loves his siblings and fills our home with life.

Grandma Mills came for the big event. I didn't tell Parker she would be there, so when he found out she came he was SO excited. We are thankful for her never-ending love and support!

We look forward to seeing all that Parker will accomplish in the future!

Market Day

At Josh's school they earn Coyote cash during the year. Three times a school year they have market day where you can buy or sell items or services (such as petting an iguana or battling someone's Beyblade) using your "cash." The first time they had market day Josh had a hard time choosing what to purchase with his money. By the time he went back to buy items, they were gone. He came running to the car after school in tears. He wasn't able to buy anything. My heart hurt for him. I knew it was a good lesson for him to learn how to be decisive, but I still felt bad it was a disappointment. So, he learned that items sell fast, so you have to think quickly.

Parents are welcome to come to Market day to help their children sell. I told myself I'd support him at the next market day, but when it came around I wasn't able to go. I was anxious to hear about his experience, hoping it was better than the first. This time when he came running to the car he was thrilled with his purchases. A muffin and a bookmark (that was cut out of a cereal box with stickers.... not thrilling to me). He told me that he had dropped his cash and must have realized it later. He wasn't able to get it all back, but he wasn't upset about it. I was grateful he wasn't upset, but after he told me he had about $100 in coyote cash, I felt bad he had dropped it. So I committed to myself that I would be at the next market day.

So, this is Josh at his booth. I decided we were going to make market day the best of the year (not too hard to do). He sold Ninjago blowpop suckers, ring pops, and splash bombs (tied together sponges). He was a hit! He felt so good about the success of his items. Dave even snuck over from work to check in on the event. Josh started with $25 and ended up with about $200. Josh and Dave went on a shopping spree. Josh was happy with the items he bought, even getting a chance to pet that iguana!

If you know our Josh, you know that we couldn't ask for a better boy. I know learning and growing is part of the parent/child experience and I'm grateful I have Josh to go through it all with first.

Marine Commissioning

On May 15th my brother was commissioned a U.S. Marine. We attended an impressive ceremony where we heard from high ranking officials in four branches of the military Navy, Air Force, Army, and the Marines. Even though Chad has been on this path for a long time, understanding their etiquette and procedures is foreign to me. I have become more familiar with it each passing year as he has been in school and gone through training. The commissioning ceremony makes all his hard work official and to me that is exactly how it felt. It was real, he is officially a Marine. As his sister, I was proud, excited, and scared for him all at the same time.

We had great seats for the ceremony. I was glad Josh could see everything. Later he wrote in his journal about the experience and drew a picture of Uncle Chad.

On the far right is Aubrey and then the rest of the Surganovich crew. Aubrey's family came a little later and was able to be there to see Chad. 

The cadets (all classes at the school) are required to stay and attend all events even though their finals are over. These are just a few. 

The Keydets is their cheering section for sports events. 

Chad won't tell you his accomplishments. Sometimes after the fact he would mention things like, "oh yea Ash did I tell you I'm Commander at the school?" or "Did I mention a Congressman took me to a breakfast this morning?" or "Oh yea hey, I was selected to re-write the entire program for cadets at VMI?" Many times it would be weeks or months before he let on that he had achieved an advancement. 

After the large ceremony we moved outside for the last portion of the ceremony.

Aubrey is a great support to Chad. I am so impressed at how she has retained SO much information about everything from VMI's rules to the Marine's details. I'd ask her about something and she could explain to me in detail what was taking place. At times it almost sounds like another language to me, but to her, she understands it completely!

Josh and Parker were excited to see Uncle Chad up close in his uniform. 

Chad's friend, David Worley, commissioned him. He worked with Chad on his mission. He made a special trip to be there to assist Chad. 

We had to wait awhile until it was Chad's turn. The kids played outside the barracks. Miss Emmi even made a new friend, Penelope. She is Aubrey's niece. 

When it was Chad's turn, David gave an oath that Chad repeated. After that my parents and Aubrey pinned his bars on his shoulders.

This was man who gave the oath to the Marines. Look at all his bars and medals!

A great day for two of the special ladies in Chad's life. 

After Chad gave his signature, he was official. 

This is the record of his commissioning. One of the speakers suggested that all should display it proudly as a reminder of the promises they made to their country.

Once he walked away from this table he was an officer. That was when the saluting began! People were saluting him left and right.

Here is Chad's new family. The Hughes love and support him. He is blessed to have them.

I know how I feel about Chad, so I am sure my parents are feeling pretty impressed by their son. He has always been so grateful for all they do and have provided for him. Now it has all paid off. Plus, he is the last of the kids... so their has to be some relief!

This cracked me up. In this picture here is Chad with all his manly, military friends.

In this pictures... still Chad and his manly friends, but my brother is in caught in the picture carrying his wife's purse.  Real manly Jared!

All the siblings together.

I try to pick the best picture of the majority. Well, Parker always happens to be the one not looking. At least he's in the picture. 

 

This was a day I will always remember.